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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. content — the amount
  3. hand — help
  4. degree — temperature
  5. cap — of ice
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. degree — from a university
  8. spell — letters
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. spell — magic
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cap — a lid
  14. hand — in cards
  15. deal — to handle
  16. land — to come down
  17. degree — an amount
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. content — happy
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rest — a break
  22. land — a country
  23. rest — what's left
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com